Sedimentary Facies and Depositional Environment of Oligo-Miocene of the Southern Shore of the Strait of Gibraltar (Rif, Morocco)

This paper highlights a detailed sedimentological investigation of the deposits of Oligo-Miocene age on the southern shore of the Strait of Gibraltar commonly called flyschs Numidian, micaceous-sandstone flysch of Beni Ider and merinid flysch. This study has allowed us to demonstrate the existence of different facies and environments linked to the different processes that prevail in the Maghrebian basin under the simultaneous control of sedimentary input, eustatism and the tectonic process. Our study is based on the observation and the detailed stratonomic analysis of the different facies encountered in the Oligo-Miocene age series of flyschs from the southern shore of the Strait of Gibraltar. For the first time, this analysis shows that the Numidian successions studied, except that of Oued Lihoud, were deposited in deltaic environments (deltaic cone) at the level of the North African margin (Rif chain). These are prodelta deposits where slides, slumps or turbidites of predominantly fluvial delta fronts, regular waves and storm waves, fluvial and estuarine channels and tidal plains are sometimes intercalated. The micaceoussandstone flyschs are due to gravitational sedimentation at the level of the submarine plain of the Maghreb basin. We have identified different categories of deposits: low, medium and high density turbidites, pulsation turbidites, homogenites, debris-flows and contourites. The Merinid flyschs are also due to mixed gravity sedimentation from a lithological point of view between the Numidian sandstones and the micaceous-sandstoneof Beni Ider. These deposits have therefore occupied an intermediate position between the southern and northern margins of the Maghrebian basin. In addition to the gravity facies, the deposits show high-density megaturbidites. This study also allowed the identification a major eustatic decline that was recorded during the Oligocene, the cold climate of the Oligocene and distensive (north) and compressive (south) tectonic movements depending on the position in the basin.

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Opracowanie rekordu ze środków MNiSW, umowa nr SONP/SP/546092/2022 w ramach programu "Społeczna odpowiedzialność nauki" - moduł: Popularyzacja nauki i promocja sportu (2024).